American Jews in World War I - German Propaganda Courting the American Jewry

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2004 in the subject History - Miscellaneous, grade: A, Juniata College, language: English, abstract: In early August 1914, the first days of World War I, Germany's attention was focused on the United States. The world's biggest economic power had so far remained neutral and was therefore the field of the 'Krieg der Geiste' (War of Minds). England tried to push the United States into the war against the Central Powers and Germany tried to keep the United States out of the war and worked through diplomatic efforts to ensure that the US stayed completely neutral. The German Empire saw Americans of the Jewish faith as major allies in this effort. Many of these American Jews were powerful financiers, including immigrants from both Germany and Russia. The German Empire hoped that it had the support of the highly influential Jewish bankers as well as of many Jewish -American voters. The sources on which the research is based are former works of the German propaganda efforts in the United States, material from the New York Times and accounts of contemporary people. This research will show how the German Empire tried to win and keep the favor of these particular groups of Americans and why they hoped that the American Jews were on their side, what measures German Jews made to achieve this goal and why it ultimately failed.